Two pretty evenly matched teams, I'd say. And one of them deserves to lose.
They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they kept just one. They promised to take our land, and they took it
- Mahpiya Luta (Red Cloud)
So let's see if it's possible to wipe the grin off Chief Wahoo's face.
We open with two games in Cleveland, and Francona's crew were one of the best teams in all of baseball in their own backyard. Only one AL team could match Cleveland's 53-28 home record, and that would be... the Texas Rangers? Well. That's not so scary. The Jays dealt with that obstacle well enough.
While Progressive Field appears to have become an outstanding hitter's park, it's actually a somewhat one-sided development. Their pitchers don't appear to have struggled too much at home. Their park certainly didn't seem to do them any favours, but they weren't all that much better when hit the road. Cleveland's pitchers put up a 3.90 ERA at home, compared to 3.81 on the road. Opposition batters hit .240/.304/.393 with 84 HRs in neutral parks, and they were just a little bit better when they went to Cleveland: .246/.304/.420 with 102 HRs.
It's the Cleveland offense that has the true split personality. Get them on the road, and they don't look like much at all. They hit just .236/.300/.391 with 86 HRs. They scored just 325 runs away from home - that's just 4.01 runs per game, and no team in the AL scored so seldom, and only one team in the majors scored less often (the Phillies.)
But they're an offensive juggernaut in their own house. In Cleveland they hit .288/.359/.469 with 99 HRs. They scored 452 runs at home - that's 5.58 per game, and that's more than the 2016 Red Sox averaged this year. And the Bostons scored more runs than any other team in the majors.
Well. Further investigation should lead us to expect some pretty huge home-road splits among the players on the Cleveland roster. It probably won't be Corey Kluber, him being a pitcher and all - and wouldn't you know it, Kluber went 10-5, 3.24 at home and 8-4, 3.03 on the road. But in the lineup....
Whoa. I mean, whoa. With the exception of Evil Ways Santana, who doesn't seem to care where the games are played, everyone is a completely different - and far, far better - hitter at home.
They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they kept just one. They promised to take our land, and they took it
- Mahpiya Luta (Red Cloud)
So let's see if it's possible to wipe the grin off Chief Wahoo's face.
We open with two games in Cleveland, and Francona's crew were one of the best teams in all of baseball in their own backyard. Only one AL team could match Cleveland's 53-28 home record, and that would be... the Texas Rangers? Well. That's not so scary. The Jays dealt with that obstacle well enough.
While Progressive Field appears to have become an outstanding hitter's park, it's actually a somewhat one-sided development. Their pitchers don't appear to have struggled too much at home. Their park certainly didn't seem to do them any favours, but they weren't all that much better when hit the road. Cleveland's pitchers put up a 3.90 ERA at home, compared to 3.81 on the road. Opposition batters hit .240/.304/.393 with 84 HRs in neutral parks, and they were just a little bit better when they went to Cleveland: .246/.304/.420 with 102 HRs.
It's the Cleveland offense that has the true split personality. Get them on the road, and they don't look like much at all. They hit just .236/.300/.391 with 86 HRs. They scored just 325 runs away from home - that's just 4.01 runs per game, and no team in the AL scored so seldom, and only one team in the majors scored less often (the Phillies.)
But they're an offensive juggernaut in their own house. In Cleveland they hit .288/.359/.469 with 99 HRs. They scored 452 runs at home - that's 5.58 per game, and that's more than the 2016 Red Sox averaged this year. And the Bostons scored more runs than any other team in the majors.
Well. Further investigation should lead us to expect some pretty huge home-road splits among the players on the Cleveland roster. It probably won't be Corey Kluber, him being a pitcher and all - and wouldn't you know it, Kluber went 10-5, 3.24 at home and 8-4, 3.03 on the road. But in the lineup....
HOME AWAY
Player HR RBI BAVG OBP SLUG HR RBI BAVG OBP SLUG
Napoli 22 71 .281 .392 .566 - 12 30 .198 .275 .367
Kipnis 13 44 .285 .355 .502 - 10 38 .266 .329 .435
Lindor 6 47 .344 .401 .493 - 9 31 .258 .314 .377
Ramirez 8 49 .347 .408 .544 - 3 27 .275 .316 .379
Davis 3 23 .279 .328 .365 - 9 25 .221 .285 .409
Naquin 9 23 .333 .405 .592 - 5 20 .264 .344 .448
Chisenhall 4 35 .309 .355 .459 - 4 22 .265 .303 .422
Santana 20 48 .259 .374 .510 - 14 39 .260 .359 .486
Whoa. I mean, whoa. With the exception of Evil Ways Santana, who doesn't seem to care where the games are played, everyone is a completely different - and far, far better - hitter at home.
